ing alls



Nov. 14, 1939.

H. A, INGALLS ROAD CONSTRUCTION Original Filed March 155, l955 2 sheets-sheet;

INVINTOR. HENRY f4. /NeALL lm, Livi/zu ATT RNEYS.

Ref 212,262

Nov. 14, 1939. H. A.. INGALLs y ROAD CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 original Filed Maren 15, 1933 TTORNEYS.

Reuma Ny..14,'1e39 A l Re. 21,7262

Roan coNs'raoo'rroN- Henry a. Ingalls, Bakersnem, Calif., assigner to Helen Ingalls Crowder (sometimes known as Helen -Elaine Crowder), Bakerseld, Calif.

Original No. 2,012,566, dated August 27, w35, Sef rial No. 660,595, March 13, 1933. Application for reissue August 9, 1537, Seriai No. 55,231

8 Claims. (Cl. it-23) My invention relates to road or paving couwherein precaiculated on definitely controlled struction. I have discovered that soll may be portions of oil may be satisfactorily used to effect very readily treated at its situs and converted .proper impregnation of the loose particles of soil into a condition where it may b e readily made with the oil. Y

UNITED STATES vPari-:NT `orr'lcr.

into a smooth, strong, durable and inexpensive Another object of theinvention is to provide 5 road surface when properly combined with other in paving or road construction a road surfacecomparatively inexpensive constituents, such, for having an inexpensive but strong and durable instance. as water and viscous fluids, such as portion which will provide a lane over which light crude oil. I of course do not claim broadly the traillc may be handled and a similarly constructmethod of constructing roads by the mere use ed, but somewhat modified portion serving as a of crude oil and soil, but I do claim, among other lane for the handling of heavy tramo. 4

novel features, to be hereinafter set forth, to A very important object of the invention is to have discovered that by first treating the soil to provide a road, the bed of which will be characreduce same to a loose, finely divided mass,'then terized in the manner aforestated in conjunction lmpregnating same under proper conditions with with which said bed is employed a novel slab 15 a. suiilcient quantity of water, I am able to so surface which will freely adapt itself to variations condition or prime same, that when crude oil is in temperature without resulting in injury to said incorporated therewith, the oil will be effectively surface. incorporated in. the soil in a manner that. will Myinvention is illustrated in the accompanying cause maximum benefit to be derived from use drawings, in which s thereof, after the road has been fully constructed. Figure 1 is a view in transverse section showing My invention therefore has for one of its obthe condition of the pre-moistened soil and the jects the treatment of the soil to ilrst render same application thereto of crude oil to effect stratifisufiiciently moist that after oil is linitially incation of the oil preparatory to a'n application of corporated therewith at the situs of the soil, the a condensing pressure to the mass: 25 oil may thereafter be distributed to positions in Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure l, showing the mass where it will function to securely bond the mass fully condensed or compressed; together the particles of soll and produce at the Figure 3 is a view in plan view of the road when upper stratum of the soil, and in the immediate provided with my improved slab construction; vicinity thereof, a very smooth. strong and dur- Figure 4 is a longitudinal section through a v30 able traific surface which will be'far' less porous portion of a completed roadway constructed in than was possible heretofore with prior methods. accordance with one embodiment of the invention; I am further able to'utilize much smaller quanti- Figure 5A is a vertical section through the oil ties of oi1,. and at the same time produce a ndistributing means;

A ished product which will not dry out or disintel Figure 6 is a transverse section through a por- 35 grate prematurely, and one whichl will better tion of a roadway showing o slightly modled resist the effect of the elements and satisfactorily form of the invention; n withstand the eect of heavy loads imposed Figure l is a plan view of the modified conthereon. v struction shown in Figure 6.

A further object of the invention resides in the In preparing the soil, I first reduce same to 40 provision of a novel method of constructing roads a, finely divided state which may-be subsequently wherein provision is made for the work being carcondensed into a. substantially homogeneous dense ried on continuously. mass when uniformly subjected to the action of A still further object of the invention is to suitable external condensing pressures, preferably provide a method of constructing roads whereiny pressures of a progressively increasing nature, the crude oil which I cause to be deposited at presuch as may be brought about by an initial ap- .,determined positions therein may be promptly plication of alight weight roller thereto, followed.

subjected to the action of steam or a blast of by similar uniform applications'of rollers of gradheated air so that the oil will be atomized thereby ually increasing weights. After the soil has been and forced in an upward direction through the turned and made light, all large foreign particles, 50 loose particles of soll, whereby to cause the said `stones and the like. are preferably removed thereparticles of soil to be thoroughly saturated with from so that no large voids will remain in the oil. mass through which oil might iind egress to the Y A still further object of the invention is to subsoil or to levels or places beyond the effective provide a method of the character set forth zone of the soil under treatment. l

I thenagain tumble and thoroughly agitate the soil, this time in the presence of water, so that the mass will befairly moist. In Figure l of the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated as well 5 as'possible the condition of the soil after same has been reduced to a finely divided state, saturated with water andsupplied with crude yoil. Best results may be obtained by application of the oil so as to stratify same, so to speak, relatively to 1'0 adjacent layers of moist soil. ff I have previously indicated a desire to so apply the oil that it will be stratiiiedin the mass of soil under treatment. I very nicely accomplish this object bythe use of the distributing mecha.-

nism shown in Figure V5. This mechanism comprises a manifold A into which the crude oil may be conducted fromany suitable source of supply (not shown) and then led `from the manifold through the pipe B into a valve chamber C. The k valve chamber may be sub-diyided into asmany sections as are desired. and in each section is a rotary valve D, which acts in conjunction with the valve chamber to cause controlled or predetermined quantities of oil to be discharged from the chamber as the valve is rotated.A The valve is therefore mounted upon a driven shaft E into which power can be taken in any suitable well known manner, whereby to revolve the valve, preferably at a comparatively slow speed. 'I'he said valve is divided intov a plurality of peripheral pockets F, each functioning to accommodate a predetermined measure of oil. For each section of the kvalve chamber C is employed a vertical dis tributor G, the upper end of which lis of funnel f formation and arranged with-its ylarge end directly beneath the discharge nipple H of the particular valve section of the chamber C with which it is intended to coact, AThe lower end of the vertical distributor is formed at its front end with a soil penetrating blade or portion I and immediately at the rear of said portion I the walls of the distributor are formed with an oil discharge opening J, from which the oil may be discharged in a downward and rearward direction. A t K is illustrated a blast tube, the same being extended into a funnel-like end of the distributor G, and, as illustrated, it is formed with a vertical leg L which extends through the-bore of said distributor. This leg L of the blast tube `It'. is preferably eccentrically positionedwith relation to the annular walls of the distributor so that a duct M is formed between said walls andl said leg for the free downwardpassage there-- through of the oil, as will be ',BDpreciated. The lower end of the leg L is provided with a rear- -wardly extending nozzle N. whose free extremity is preferably curved slightly in an upward direction, as-at O. The blast tube may be connected in a 50111156 f all' Supply, Bhd it i8 deslred'that G0, said tube be provided with a circulating coil P, which is adapted to be heated by a burner Q. It is in vthis manner that air under pressure, as it is being conducted'to the leg L, will be heated,l whereby to enable the oil to freely flow through the duct M and to discharge from the orifice J. Now it follows that when the heated air is discharged from the curved end- 0 of the nozzle N, blasts of air.will be made to impinge against the soil, so as to induce a suction at therearof the oriilce J, and thereby accelerate the movement of the oil out ofthe orifice, while producing an upward current of wa'rm air which eifectually fnetions to atomizethe oil and to force same in an upward direction through the loose particles of It is in this manner that I provide for suitable well known substance which is more or casca proper impregnation of the particles of soil with oil, and the action is so complete that when employed in conjunctionwith a'measuring scheme or system for discharging controlled or definitely limited portions of oill to the distributor G, a material saving in the use of oil is eifected. l'nstead of discharging air into the blast tube K, steam may, of course, be used as a substitute therefor. v

I, After the oil has been appliedto the premoistened soil, as aforestated, a road grader is passed thereover and the mass leveled; I thenapply condensing pressures to the mass over such period vof time and by the use of rollers or the like of progressively increasing 'weights and by 15 compacting same until the mass vhas been densely packed and reduced to a homogeneous condition. It is largely in this manner that I provide for very complete distribution of the oil through the entire mass of soil, without undue loss of oil. 20

I am also able to conilne the oil to the effective area formed by the lmass under treatment. Due to the existence of a moisture content in the soil, I am able to produce a road, the top stratum of which is exceedingly smooth and well sealed off by the oil, as the tendency of the moisture contained in the soil is to raise the oil to levels within the mass of soil, where full benefit will be derived therefrom. yAny inequalities in the surface are. of course, readily leveled off by compacting same during the early development period, and, if desired, oil or water may be sprayed or otherwise applied to the surface to additionally seal oil' any and all pores contained therein and to allay dust.

A road constructed as aforementioned is more or less.yieldable,and same furnishes a uniform edges of the adjoining slabs, and these joints are then illled in with tar, asphaltum, pitchor other less elastic and impermeableto water. By means of these elastic joints, taken with the fact that at least two faces of each of the-slabs 2 and 3 are ared, inopposite directions, as clearly shown in Figure 3 of the drawings, it follows thateiiective 5 expansion joints are formed therebetween so that said hard surface will readily adapt itself to variations in temperature without resulting in injury to said surface,

, The method hei-ein described is such that I am able to take advantage oi' known natural laws, in a desire to place an essential constituent, namely, crude oil or the like, in a conditioi oi' more or less stable equilibrium, so to speak, when associated with a liquid of different density, such as water, whereby to confine the oil wholly within the body or mass of soil, which latter is employed portion l.. In the said portion 'I' incorporate Y the oil 'is applied by stratifying same with respect to layers of said soil, I do not mean to infer that I I, in fact, constantly maintain relativel'superposed stratification of lthe oil in the mass 'ot moist 5 soil. It is my opinion that the relative portions '15 but before the soll becomes entirely dr'y, it is also manifest from the steps .herein employed that the oil will have become a reliable homogeneous part thereof. It is because'thereof .that I am able to completely utllizethe oil without oversaturation as an essential "bonding' and'body strengthening 'constituent in the production of an inexpensive road which will"have"many`of the liner qualities df more expensive road con structions. 'A road bed, when constructed. as herein described, ail'ords a more .or vless, uniform yieldable support for 'an expansibley overlying hard surface, such as I have described and `particularly illustrated'in" Figure 3 of the drawings. By perfectly sealing the joints between the aforestated slabs 2 and 3 with asphaitum, tal', pitch or other suitable weil known compounds, and flowing the joint ma'terial onto the upper 'stratum of the underlying bed, premature deterioration of the said bed-by contact with surface water is eliminated. The aforementioned slabs 2 and I are arranged in longitudinal rows along the road thus constructed and each of said slabs may, of course, be of any suitable width and of such thickness as may be required to render same perfectly strong and durable. Their arrangement with respect to each other. is such that they will readily respond to any and all forces appliedtheretc, as 'may be due tovariation4 in temperature.

In the form of the invention shown in'ligures 6 and 7, a roadway very similar to the one described in Figures l'to 3, inclusive, is provided, but in this form of the invention theroadway is of greater width than the first said form, where; l

by to provide an intermediate portion formed for handling light trame and a portion or lane 5 for accommodating heavy traffic. While I have shown but one oi' said portions i, it is to be understood that two thereof will be provided in` practice, and disposed a't the respective sides of the cement rails 6 which are arranged in parallelism with each other.' Theserailsiare constructed of cement and each thereof 'includes mating longi-v tudinal sections 1, whose ends are mitered at 8 to provide the expansion' Joint 'I therebetween. These joints are their lled in with'asphalt, pitch,

tar or the like n. 'nach ran'secuon 'l is of dove-A 70 that these cement r'ails are to'be properly spaced apart so that the wheels of an automobile may roll thereover and that the upper surfaces of the f rails are of ample width to tread surfaces of said wheels. 75 I would have it understood that as many layaccommodate the n.aaa f .ers o: ou may be injected into the son as may 6, so as to provide downwardly and outwardly be 'found desirable or ry according to the thickness of the mam of oil under treatment. In

a road structure the thickness of which is to be six inches. I have found in practice that a single application of oil is suillcient when injected to a.

'depth of approxhnately six inches from the upper surface. It has also been found that when the oil is distributed as aforementioned and the soil subsequently subjected to the action of external pressures, sometimes surplus oil appears upon the surface. When this condition presents itself, it is only necessary to spread over the surface oontaining said surplus oil suilicient quantity of suitable soil, preferably a soil which affords traction. A surprisingly small amount of oil may be sati.-

factorily used, and in the road constructed as aforementioned the structure was strong enough to sustain exceedingly heavy traiilc, such as motor trucks which are now otherwise ordinarily barred from the highways.

What I lclaim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

I. The method of constructing roads including `loosening top soil along a roadway to provide a l pervious top layer above a relatively impervious roadbed o subsoil, mixing oil and water into the soil of` the top 'layer in quantities to substantially saturate the soil with water and permeate the water saturated soil with oil, and effecting permeation of the water treated soil with the oil by compacting the top layer.

2. The method of constructing roads including reducing soil at its situs to a iinel;r divided mass substantially free of voids of appreciable size, mixing oil and vwater with the nely divided soil in quantities to substantiailysaturate the soil with water and permeate the water saturated soi with oil, distributing the oil through the water treated soil so as to cause' the oil to nii the'voids therein, 'and densely packing the top iayer so to seal off the underlying bed of suhsoil by appiication of condensing pressure to the surface of said top layer.

3. The hereindescribed steps in themethod of constructing roads comprising reducing soil at its situa to a u'ely` divided state so that no voids ci' any appreciable size are left therein, mixing heterogeneous liquids with the soil, then applying a y condensing pressure to the soil to densely pack same and to dispose the liquid of lighter densityr in suspension upon the liquid of heavier density so as to cause said liquid of lighter density to fill the `voids in` the upper'stratum of the soil and to seal of! said upper stratum from the underlying structure of thesoil.-

4. The herein described method of utilizing-soil at its situs as a structural material in the building of roads comprising reducing the soil to a nely divided state, incorporating water in the soii'in a manner to thoroughlymoisten substan- Iii) tially all particles` thereof', mixing a structural liquid with' the soil, the density of which is less than water, then condensing the soil to effect upward displacement of the said structural liquid and the water with the structural liquid in otationon the water and to cause same to bea finely divided state, incorporating water in the soil in a manner to thoroughly moisten substanf tially all particles thereof, mixing a viscous strucmass in a vquantity to constitute an upvmrdlfA in situ to reduce same .to a loose, more or less nely divided mass, incorporating water in the moving hydrostatic head when down pressure is applied 'to the upper surface of `he mass. incorporating controiied portions oi eil in the mass below the upper surface tliereos their applying e;

condensing pressure 'to the irisiesrem the upper surface thereof to cause ifue water. 'when rising, to carry 'the oil vertically upwerdly .the

-mess and thus gradually iiil the voids in the mass and to seal ofi the upper surface ci the meer to render seine impervious te downward penetre-'- tien of water into the mese.

V. The herein descriced metrico? ci constructing roede comprising dividing the Wiiie cerne is in situ to reduce same to e. more more er ieee ue ly' divided mass, incorporer-ing water iii the in. e, quantity te constitute en ifiiwerdiy moving:

` surface or tie hydrostatic head when down pressure is applied to the upper surface of the mass. incorporating controlled portions of oil in the mass below the uppervsuri'ace thereof. then applying successively increasing condensing preures to the mass from the upper surface thereof to thereby cause the water as it rises to carry the oil vertically upwardly through the-mass and thus gradually till tl'iev voids in the mass and to seal on the upper' surface ci' the mass to render same im rvious "in downward penetration of Water into the mass.

8. Ii'iie herein described method oi' constructing roads comprising dividing the soil While seme is in situ to reduce seme to a ioose, more or less iineiy divided mass, incorporating water in the mass in e. Quantity to constitute an upwardly moving hydrostatic heed when down lpressure is applied to the upper suriece of the mees, meer pereting coritroiied portions of oil in the mass lifeicw the upper surface euri at dii'ererit levels in the then applying c condensing mercure tc. the mess rorri the upper surface thereof te cause the weiser, when rising, to carry the ei verticeil? upwardly through mess cud thus gmdimiiy il the voids 'the mass end to sedi @E upper mess te render seme impervious te deemirerd penetratie@ of weiter into the 

